Wrangling over 12-team college football playoff aside, the Rose Bowl is, in fact, special
The Rose Bowl, the oldest college bowl game, was first played in 1902. But the game was the add-on. The parade began in 1890.
PASADENA, Calif. — You can’t mess with the Rose Bowl.
You hear the Granddaddy of Them All wasn’t making it too easy for college football’s grand poobahs as they put together the 12-team playoff that kicks off in 2024.
Good for them.
The Rose Bowl ain’t just a game. It’s more than bands and flower-petaled floats. It’s families parking before dawn down at the stadium, climbing the mile or so up the hill to downtown Pasadena, to the corner of Colorado and Orange Grove Boulevards. (“Hey, Mom, free cotton candy” … “No, honey, it’s not free.”)
It’s the Tournament of Roses Queen on a float, blowing a kiss to her aunt and uncle screaming from the grandstand. This year, it was, in fact, a football game featuring Penn State and Utah. But it also was Penn State’s band getting on its own predawn bus for its own big day. (Team makes the bowl, band makes the parade.)
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It’s the wide-eyed smiles on the faces of the Honor Green Band from Gifu, Japan, as it turned the corner from Orange Grove to Colorado. It somehow reminded of the scene at the Kentucky Derby, in terms of the participants turning from the quiet of the barns into a wall of people — except the Tournament of Roses Parade actually has more horses. (If you’re a horse anywhere in the greater vicinity of Pasadena and you’re not in this parade, you must be wondering what went wrong.)
The Rose Bowl game itself, the oldest college bowl game, was first played in 1902. But that was the add-on. The parade began in 1890.
Sure, it can all feel like an artifact from another time. (Congrats to the City of Pasadena float for winning this year’s Bob Hope Humor award.) It all connects. Monday’s parade ended and much of the crowd made the trek back down the hill, so many in Penn State and Utah jerseys. Time for some tailgating before kickoff.
The folks putting together the coming 12-team extravaganza had to wait until the 11th hour for the Rose Bowl to sign on, but the deal is going to work out for both sides, at least in the beginning.
The Rose Bowl took itself out of consideration to host a semifinal or final, just to keep that parade connection.
The quarterfinals will be held in 2024 and ‘25 around New Year’s Day, so that’s the game the Rose Bowl will get. No more Big Ten vs Pac-12 after next season, but let’s face it, USC or UCLA representing the Big Ten would have been too weird anyway.
Let’s also pause to point out that if the Rose Bowl hadn’t previously made concessions, there might not have been a four-team playoff. (Alabama over Notre Dame was the 2021 Rose Bowl? Sure, so was Georgia over Oklahoma in 2018, although it was a classic.)
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While there’s no guarantee past ‘25 that the Rose Bowl will get the same consideration from the poobahs, it has to. It’s the only one where it all works. The day before the parade/game, Orange Grove Boulevard already was lined with tarps and chairs and parade-watchers ready to camp out to protect their spots. One family had the nephews do the overnight shift. Carrie Saks explained that her nephews usually went off to sleep during the parade, but got game tickets from their grandfather for their overnight efforts. He also saved some spots on the tarp for some nuns since he does their accounting work.
Not saying the parade isn’t work.
“It was very long and difficult,” said a Penn State drummer about the two-hour march, while playing music the whole time. “But it was special.”
Which is better, game or parade?
“If the game is interesting, game,” he said.
If the locals didn’t put just as much effort into the football game, it could feel like an afterthought. But it doesn’t. It can’t. Players often get as wide-eyed as the Honor Green Band from Gifu, Japan.
Name another event where there’s a double Stealth flyover, at the start of the parade and again just before the game.
The Rose Bowl likes Penn State, win or lose, because Penn Staters show up. (Utes show up, too, taking up more than half of the place.)
“You all are Penn State?” asked one stadium worker to a group getting on an elevator.
“We are,” a man said.